3D printing is now the star of the technology field, whether it is scientific research or technology news, it can be seen everywhere, so what is the 3D printing touted as the third industrial revolution?

We are all familiar with 2D printing, which is the printing method we usually use. Paper and ink are used as materials. The printer displays the patterns or words on the computer on the paper, which is a flat display result. 3 d, just as its name implies, is stereo, also need a printer and computer, first on the computer modeling, then through special printer print model, printed on the model and the computer exactly the same, so, here comes to is printing ink (material), real modeling material will to be decided according to the characteristics of the model, for example to print a following, Then the printing ink is metal or plastic powder.

Due to its high accuracy and production efficiency, 3D printing is gradually being widely used in various fields, such as printing parts for naval ships; For aerospace science and technology printing instruments; For printing organ models in the medical field; Used for printing houses in the construction field; Used for printing parts in automotive industry; Wouldn't it be incredible for the electronics industry to print laptops and so on?

3D printing is developing rapidly, and printing ink has become a limiting factor. Scientists around the world have made a lot of progress in the research of printing materials.

Recently, a team of researchers at Johannes Kepler University Linz used biodegradable materials like sugar and gelatin as ink to print 3D soft robots.

Over the past few years, researchers have been making progress in developing soft robots, named for the soft materials they use to build them. Such robots are often created to mimic creatures that live in water. The researchers believe the technology could one day lead to the development of tiny soft robots that can swim around the body to dispenze drugs or repair damaged tissue.

In most cases, soft robots are made from non-biodegradable materials because biodegradable materials have limitations, including dissolution in water, molding, and limited service life.

In the new study, the researchers used sugar and gelatin to create jelly-like object gels that were stretchable to six times their original length. Adding other materials made their creations less prone to mold (citric acid) and more elastic when immersed in water (glycerin). They have now experimented with various formulations to create inks that can be used to make 3D objects.

To use the material they created, they heated it to a soft point that allowed it to squirt through a printing nozzle, and ran the printer in a cold room to allow the ink to solidify quickly.

To test their method, the team first created a soft pneumatic actuator that worked as planned, and then printed stretchable waveguide sensors to work with LED lights. They then combined waveguides with actuators to create a powerful, soft robot. Next, they connected the three waveguides together and connected them to a push-button controller, which could then be used to change how much the waveguides deform.

This material can be reused many times, laying the foundation for sustainable, zero-waste 3D printing of soft robots in the future.